It’s been a quiet night on Merseyside as we get ready to fly out to Istanbul, but there’s been movement in the opposition camp. Turkish media report that Fenerbahçe are closing in on Sérgio Conceição as their new head coach, although Dirk Kuyt is still expected to take charge against us on Wednesday.
There’s no fresh injury news, Steven Gerrard has had his say on Sunday’s home defeat to Arsenal, and Lamine Camara is still the main transfer talking point, although questions remain over a January move.
Fenerbahçe: Conceição on the way
Turkish broadcaster A Spor reports that Fenerbahçe have reached an agreement with Sérgio Conceição on an 18-month contract, following Ismail Kartal’s resignation, a claim since carried by Ajansspor. However, Italian outlet Tuttomercatoweb reports that negotiations are continuing and nothing has been finalised, and there’s been no announcement from the club. Turkish reports suggest the club hope to bring Conceição to Istanbul to watch Wednesday’s game from the stands.
Fenerbahçe’s own media schedule names Kuyt, who has been in temporary charge, for their pre-match press conference at 12pm UK time today, so it looks as though our former striker will still be in the dugout against us.
Conceição knows us well. As Porto coach he faced us six times in the Champions League between 2018 and 2021 and never beat us, with five defeats and a draw, including 5-0 and 5-1 wins for us in Porto in 2018 and 2021. He has since had spells in charge of AC Milan and, most recently, Saudi side Al-Ittihad.
Today in Istanbul
The squad travel to Turkey today. Andoni Iraola and one of the players will hold our pre-match press conference at 3.15pm UK time, and we’ll then train at the Şükrü Saracoğlu Stadium, with the opening part of the session shown live from 4.30pm UK time.
Wednesday’s game kicks off at 5.45pm UK time, with France’s Clément Turpin refereeing. Before that, our Under-19s face Fenerbahçe in the UEFA Youth League at 11am UK time.
Gerrard: ‘They shot themselves in the foot’
Steven Gerrard believes we were the architects of our own downfall at Anfield. Speaking on The Overlap, he said: “They shot themselves in the foot, because there was no need to concede that early goal.” He added: “1-0 would have been a fair result, but credit to Arsenal.”
Gerrard expects Arsenal to go on and win the league, and warned: “Nine points behind for Liverpool. So, Liverpool have got work to do if they want to challenge.” Hard to argue with the arithmetic, even if we’d rather not hear it from our own legend.
Team news
There’s been no new injury news overnight, and no fresh concerns have emerged from Sunday’s defeat. Jeremie Frimpong is unlikely to return before the international break, while Conor Bradley and Hugo Ekitiké remain sidelined. Giovanni Leoni also remains unavailable as he continues his recovery from a long-term knee injury. Federico Chiesa and Wataru Endo are not in our Champions League squad.
The Liverpool Echo predicts Iraola could rotate his starting XI in Istanbul, with Rio Ngumoha among those tipped to start.
Transfers
It’s been quiet from the likes of David Ornstein and Paul Joyce.
Lamine Camara: Football Insider claims Monaco could be willing to sell the midfielder in January for around £50m, although the report hasn’t been backed up by Liverpool’s more reliable correspondents. That follows the recent single-source Italian report of a possible €50m January offer. David Lynch said on the Anfield Index podcast that he wouldn’t be surprised if groundwork was being done, “But that doesn’t mean January and €50 million, does it?” He believes we’d need a midfielder to leave first. Credibility: Medium on the longstanding interest, Low on a January deal.
Murillo, Alejandro Balde and Nico Schlotterbeck: nothing new beyond the reports we covered last night.
We’ve identified no other significant developments from reliable sources concerning contracts, ownership, investment or senior club staffing overnight.
Fixtures (UK times)
All kick-off times are GMT.
Wednesday 4 November: Fenerbahçe v Liverpool, Champions League, 5.45pm
Sunday 8 November: Crystal Palace v Liverpool, Premier League, 2pm (Sky Sports)
Sunday 22 November: Liverpool v Manchester United, Premier League, 4.30pm (Sky Sports)
Wednesday 25 November: Club Brugge v Liverpool, Champions League, 8pm
Sunday 29 November: Everton v Liverpool, Premier League, 12pm (TNT Sports)
Wednesday 2 December: Liverpool v Sunderland, Premier League, 7.30pm (Sky Sports)
Saturday 5 December: Chelsea v Liverpool, Premier League, 12.30pm (TNT Sports)
Wednesday 9 December: Liverpool v Porto, Champions League, 8pm
Week beginning 14 December: Liverpool v AFC Bournemouth, Carabao Cup quarter-final (date and time to be confirmed)
